Urijah Faber needed one year and a four-fight winning streak to rebuild himself as an Ultimate Fighting Championship title contender. Renan Barao needed less than four minutes to derail those title dreams.

In the main event of UFC 169, the 26-year-old Brazilian sensation, whose first and only professional loss came eight years ,nine months and 28 days ago, showed again why his name is increasingly being thrown into the mix among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. In front of a capacity crowd Saturday night at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Barao (32-1, 1 no-contest) earned a TKO victory over popular veteran Faber, when the bout was stopped at 3:42 of the first round in their bantamweight title contest.

The first time they met, at UFC 149 in July 2012, Barao earned a unanimous decision. The judges were not needed on Saturday, not after Barao staggered Faber with a right hand, followed it up with a left and then threw 15 hammer fists until referee Herb Dean stopped the bout.

“I always wanted to move forward and look for that knockout,” said Barao through a translator.

“I saw he was groggy. I saw I had rocked him. So I just went on top of him and continued my barrage of punches.”

Barao had been recognized as interim champion, with former title holder Dominick Cruz sidelined after two knee surgeries. But when Cruz suffered a groin tear and pulled out of his unification bout at UFC 169, Barao had the ‘interim’ tag removed.

“I’ve worked so hard to live this moment. It’s my time,” he said.

“I landed a great punch – the one good enough to keep this belt tight around my waist.”

Faber (30-7), who went 4-0 last year, has now lost six consecutive title bouts – three in UFC and three in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). He was bitterly disappointed with the stoppage on Saturday, saying Dean waved the bout off early. As Barao was throwing the hammer fists, Dean told Faber to provide some sign that he was intelligently defending himself. Faber, while covering his left with his left hand and arm, gave Dean a thumbs-up with his right hand, which was wrapped around Barao’s right leg.

Whether or not he saw the thumb, or did and just determined Faber could not defend himself, Dean stopped the match and awarded the win to Barao.

“It’s very frustrating. I’m one of the most durable guys in the world,” said Faber.

“I guess I could jump up and say, ‘Herb, I’m alright,’ but if that were the case, I wouldn’t be in the same situation.”

Faber acknowledged Dean’s reputation as perhaps the best official in the sport. At the same time, however, “I just wish I would have had more a chance. I’m the type of guy that likes to go the bitter end,” he said.

“I had some more fight in me … I don’t want to take anything away from Barao. He caught me with a clean punch but I wasn’t out. I’ll be back.”

UFC president Dana White agreed with Faber, saying he believed the match was stopped prematurely. That said, he was as impressed as ever with Barao.

“The kid is unbelievable. He keeps looking better and better,” said White.

“He is a finisher. I just think this kid is one of the best in the world.”

Aldo won his sixth straight UFC title bout, and ninth title match in a row dating back to his WEC days, retaining his featherweight title with a dominant unanimous decision over Lamas in the UFC 169 co-main event.

As much as any attack throughout the five-round bout, Aldo’s leg kicks left Lamas hobbling. At times, they echoed throughout the arena. In other instances, they opened up Aldo’s pinpoint striking.

The picturesque performance – all three judges scored the match 49-46, giving Lamas a meaningless fifth round – may have been Aldo’s last in the 145-pound division. His long-discussed move to the lightweight division may happen as soon as this summer, as a title contest versus Anthony Pettis awaits.

Aldo said he was “considering a move,” and that he would love the challenge presented by Pettis. During Saturday’s post-fight press conference Pettis phoned White and told him that he accepted a title bout versus Aldo. White joked, saying he now had one less thing to worry about on Monday.

“I like that fight. I like Jose at (155 pounds). But again, he’s the king at (145 pounds). If he wants to move to 55, I think it’s a huge fight with Pettis.”

In other pay-per-view matches at UFC 169:

* Alistair Overeem won a battle of heavyweights in desperate need of a victory, earning a unanimous decision over former UFC champion Frank Mir.

Overeem, coming into the bout on a two-fight losing streak, dominated but never pushed for the finish. He simply paced himself, content to bludgeon Mir for three rounds, and never put himself in a risky position where Mir might catch him in a submission.

Two judges scored the bout 30-27 while the third had it 30-26, handing Mir his fourth straight loss in what could be the last fight of his UFC career. Over the three rounds, Overeem landed 139 total strikes, compared to just five from Mir.

“I proved to everybody I’m back tonight. Frank is a very experienced fighter. His game plan was to take me down, but I’m a well-rounded fighter, too, so I dominated him,” said Overeem, who admitted to playing it “a little safe … Don’t make any mistakes.”

* Ali Bagautinov beat John Lineker in a flyweight bout, receiving unanimous 29-28 scores from the three judges.

* Abel Trujilo scored a spectacular knockout over Jamie Varner in a lightweight slugfest, landing a perfect right hand for the finish at 2:32 of the second round.

FIGHT NOTES: UFC 169 set a record for most decisions on a single card, with 10. The previous record of nine was set at UFC on FUEL 7 in February 2013 and tied at UFC 161 last June. “That’s not one you’re going to hear me bragging about at press conferences,” said White … Attendance was a reported-14,308 paying a live gate of $1.651 million … Trujilo and Varner each won $75,000 bonuses for fight of the night, while Trujilo earned another $50,000 for knockout of the night. There was no submission of the night bonus awarded … UFC confirmed this week that Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy would meet in the main event of The Ultimate Fighting Nations in Quebec City on April 16. The card will be UFC’s debut in the city.

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